The Price for Great Powers
by Electronic-Star
Summary: Sora, Riku and Kairi returned to the Destiny Islands after defeating Master Xehanort. Everything should be great for them, but something changed...


Inspired by this guy ( dashboard/blog/chachacharlieco), who makes by far the best and most precious kh fanarts I ever saw. More specifically these ones:

images/774000/774996_chachacharlieco_ ?f1546759467

images/761000/761266_chachacharlieco_y ?f1545967341

Now that I really know who draw all these precious arts, I don't think my fanfic is worthy enough anymore. But I guess here it is. Rip it apart all you want, 'cause I know it's not as good as their arts or other fanfics who might use Soranort. Even though I technically didn't use Soranort.

It even has a lame end, hehe...

**The Price for Great Powers**

Sora's been acting...strange lately. Kairi had no idea what it was, but something about Sora was different. He's getting into fights with everyone, especially all the guys in school. It felt like she wasn't 'allowed' to talk with other guys. He even attacked Riku verbally.

The only time she heard him talk with a gentle voice when he talked with her. To her, he was still the caring and slightly overprotective guy she loved, always telling her he'll keep her save even though the big battle with Xehanort was long over.

"Kairi." Said redhead turned to her best friend calling her. "Riku?" The older boy put a hand on her back and guided her somewhere. "We need to talk."

"About Sora?" He just nodded as an answer and Kairi let him bring to a place where they could talk in private. "So, you noticed, too." It wasn't a question. "Of course. I know Sora's protective of me, but this is too much now..."

"That's not him being protective anymore, Kairi. That's possessiveness." That's not really the word she'd use, but it hit closer to the truth. "When did all this start?" Kairi thought for a while, trying to remember when she noticed the first change in him. "I guess...A few days after we returned." Riku hummed and leaned against the wall.

"It could be a side effect of him using the power of waking to track down your heart." He mumbled thoughtfully and unknowingly made her feel bad. "You mean it's my fault he's like this now?"

"No! No, god no, of course not." He said quickly, trying to make her feel better. "Sora wanted to do it and he knew he's abusing his powers. Mickey said he might not come back..." Kairi tried to make sense of his words. "What do you mean?"

"Hey!" Before Riku could explain it to her a familiar voice was calling them. And he sounded very angry. The two friends turned to the source of the voice and saw Sora glaring at them. "What are you doing here?!" He yelled, coming closer to them. "Sora, we just—" Kairi tried to explain, but he just pushed her away gently and glared at Riku. "I asked you something!"

Riku frowned, but still talked as normal as ever. "We talked." Soras glare darkened. She's never seen him like this before...It was kinda scary. "Oh, is that so?" He took a step closer and grabbed Riku's collar. "And why did you drag her out here to 'talk'?" Kairi couldn't take it anymore, she had to defuse this situation.

She quickly barged in between the boys, looking at Sora's furious face still glaring at Riku. "Sora!" She immediately got his attention and his face softened again. "Don't be like this. Riku just wanted to talk with me." The younger boy went silent at that, but eventually stepped back after glaring at Riku a last time.

Just as she thought everything's fine, Riku began to talk. "Do you realize what you're doing?" He earned himself another glare from Sora. "You're trying to control Kairi. You keep her away from everyone. I'm her best friend in case you forgot."

Before Sora could snap at him, Kairi grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Riku. "Come on, Sora! The next lesson starts soon!" Sora let her pull him along, but she saw him glaring at Riku one last time.

"Why are you so angry? It's not like Riku and I are dating or something." Sora looked at her apologetical, his expression softened again. "I know. Sorry."

"Tell that to Riku." He went silent at this, all the way till they're in class. Sometime during class, Riku began to text her.

[Riku]: You see what I mean?

[Kairi]: Yeah. So what do you think is wrong with him?

[Riku]: My theories are that this is not Sora at all

[Riku]: or he came back as something else...

[Riku]: Don't you feel it? The darkness?

[Kairi]: I do, but...I hoped I'm wrong.

[Riku]: Not just you

"Hey, who are you texting with?" Kairi jumped, when she heard Soras hushed voice against her ear. Of course he'd eventually notice her texting with someone. "Oh, uh Riku." His expression became slightly darker and it made her shudder. "I see."

Kairi knew he wanted to say more, but he decided not to. And she had more to tell him, too, but they had to wait till school's over. Which was soon, but it felt like years.

When the last lesson was over, Kairi could tell that he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Since he didn't tell her anything she took her time as always, but as soon as they're both ready to go he grabbed her hand and lead her out of the school. "Wait." Sora didn't listen to her though and kept walking. "Wait, Sora!"

The redhead stopped and so did he. He looked at her, asking her silently why she stopped. "We should wait for Riku." She could see that he didn't like the idea, no matter how much he tried to hide this fact. "To be honest, I...wanted to do something with you. Alone."

Kairi tilted her head to the side. She wasn't quite sure if that's a lie or if he really planned a day just for them. After all they really didn't have much alone time since they returned. "Okay. Let's go then." Sora grinned brightly and it made Kairi think she just imagined the darkness in him.

When he's with her he's the same as always. Maybe he reacted the way he did because he's afraid he'll lose her again? Or he's jealous? Even though Kairi never expected him to be the jealous type. But they both did change over the years, it could be a possibility.

Sora brought her to the beach and suggested to go to the play island. Of course she agreed, but she did feel bad that Sora brought them there in one boat and refusing to accept any help from her. "You're a princess, you don't have to work." The redhead blushed at his words. "Don't say that, I'm still the same." Then she took her phone to tell Riku why they didn't wait for him.

[Kairi]: Sorry we didn't wait. Sora and I are going to the play island

[Riku]: Take care

Kairi wasn't really sure what he meant with this. After all Sora was always very sweet to her and wouldn't ever hurt her. "What are you doing?" Asked Sora and Kairi quickly made up a lie to not make him angry again. "I, uh, I'm just telling my mom we're here." Sora accepted her answer and before she knew it they already arrived at the little island.

Kairi was watching Sora the whole time they're on the play island. But he was the same for the rest of the day. It's like as if the argument with Riku a few hours ago never happened. Even the weird darkness on him was gone. Or at least shrunk down to the 'normal' size every person had.

"Let's train!" Suggested Kairi at some point, while Sora looked at her shocked. "Huh?" The redhead summoned her keyblade and took a few steps away from him. "Come on! You need to stay in shape. Or I'll become a keyblade master before you." She wanted to tease him, egg him on to get off his lazy ass and fight with her, but he just smiled. "I wouldn't mind. For me you already are a master."

"But not a real one!" Kairi pouted. "Come on. Whoever's got hit first wins. Okay?" He kept staring at her and Kairi couldn't help but blush at the loving gaze he gave her. "Okay." He eventually gave in and summoned his own keyblade. Smiling triumphantly, she got ready for the upcoming battle. "After you, princess."

It's weird that he kept calling her 'princess', but he surely just wanted to tease her back with this. "Don't hold back." She said, before running to him and attacked him head-on. As expected he blocked the attack with his keyblade, but it was just a ruse to attack from another side.

Which he parried as well. Actually it didn't matter how she attacked, it's like he knew exactly what she planned and either dodged or blocked her attacks. In the end she was exhausted and he looked like he could do this for hours. "You're not taking this seriously." Kairi huffed, trying to catch her breath. "What do you mean?"

"All you do is avoiding my attacks. You haven't attacked me once." The spikey haired boy tilted his head to the side. "You want me to attack you?" Kairi nodded and barely blocked his fast attack. And man, he's strong. She almost fell on her knees when their keyblades clashed. Using all her remaining strength, she pushed him back.

"Good." His compliment didn't really help her, though. "Look out." Kairi looked up at his words and saw his keyblade rushing towards her. She dodged his attack, but he didn't give her time to compose herself as he kept attacking her. He was fast, too, but maybe it's because Kairi was doing all the work till now and was exhausted...

Once she had a second, she used a healing spell on herself and felt her strength returning. And now it was slightly easier fighting Sora. But what irritated her the most was that Sora kept warning her when he attacked. Something Axel never did during training.

Yeah, she knew Sora didn't want to hurt her and went easy on her because she wasn't as good as him yet, but how was she supposed to learn if he fought like this? It kinda made her wish to train with Axel again, since he actually took things seriously and they actually landed a few hits on one another.

After dodging another attack, Kairi wanted to start a counter attack but was faced with the tip of Soras keyblade. She froze, wondering what he's gonna do, but then it just touched her cheek gently. "I won." He announced and grinned at her. Huffing again, she admitted her defeat and sat down on the sand.

Sora sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" Kairi nodded and sighed. "Yeah, fine." The boy frowned and looked at her concerned. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Sora." She answered, giving him a smile. He was quick to return it and as they both stared at the sea, Sora did something quite unexpected. He leaned his head on her shoulder. And it was quite a bold move for him, since he wasn't exactly the type to initiate these things. But it did make her happy. But his next words caught her off-guard again. "You smell good."

"Eeeh? Don't be ridiculous, I reek of sweat!" Kairi leaned away from him, but he was quick to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her back to him. Sora rubbed his face against her shoulder like a cat. Now he's weird again...Before she could ask him what's wrong she suddenly found herself lying on her back with Sora hovering on top of her.

Kairi blushed a deep red that could match her hair, as she stared up at him. "You're beautiful, Kairi." All she could do was staring up at him. They knew each other's feelings. They've both seen the drawings in the secret place and they did share a real paopu, but they haven't really talked about it yet. If it was because they didn't get the courage to do so yet or if they understood each other without words, she wasn't sure.

So hearing him actually say anything was...great. And warmed her heart. "So—" The boy quickly silenced her with his lips against hers. Her body froze at the sudden contact, having not expected this at all, but she eventually melted into the kiss. Maybe it wasn't perfect, as many first kisses were, but it was for her. She's dreamed of this for so long...

But something wasn't right...She just didn't know what it was. And with him kissing her, she wasn't really able to think straight. Not even when his lips left hers. Not wanting this to stop yet, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back down without thinking. Sora obeyed and kept kissing her.

Kairi only let him go when they're both very breathless. They stared into each other's eyes as Sora leaned his forehead against hers and said the words she always wanted to hear from him. "I love you." Kairis heart swelled with joy and she could feel herself tearing up. Before she knew it a tear escaped her eyes, but Sora was quick to wipe it away. And the next tear was just kissed away.

"You okay?" Kairi was unable to talk and just nodded. Then he scattered little kisses all over her face. She's never felt so loved before and it was amazing. Giggling, the redhead wrapped her arms around Soras neck and pulled him down to hug him.

"I love you, too, Sora." She whispered in his ear and felt him hugging her back tighter. They stayed like that for a while. Actually Kairi lost track of time by now, but she didn't care. For all she cared they could stay like this for hours. Just lying on the sand and cuddling.

But they had to go back eventually and the sunset reminded her of this fact. "Let's go back." Said Kairi eventually, having stalled this moment as long as possible. But Sora just shook his head against her shoulder. "Don't wanna." They couldn't stay there the whole night though and so Kairi reluctantly sat up. "We need to go."

Before she could get up, though, Sora grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back down roughly. Kairi looked at him in shock and could swear that something flickered in Soras eyes for a second. He glared at her, but as fast as this came from it vanished and he looked at her apologetical. "S-sorry."

The brunette let her go then. They both got up and went silently back to Soras boat. Kairi had no idea what she should say, this roughness towards her still shocked her. He's never been like this before. There was really something wrong with him.

Once their back on the main island Sora brought her home. They still didn't talk to each other, the atmosphere around then was extremely tense. Then they eventually arrived at her home and just as she wanted to say good-bye to Sora, he beat her to it. "Sorry about before. I-Idon't know what came over me." Kairi studied his face and saw that he was genuinely sorry about this. "It's okay. See you tomorrow then."

Kairi smiled at him, but he didn't return it this time. "It's not okay. I could've hurt you. Maybe I did. You can't just forgive me like that. I understand if you're angry and wanna scream at me, really. I deserve it." To ease his mind at least a little bit, she pulled him into a hug. "I'm not mad. You said you're sorry and I believe you. Stop thinking about it. See you tomorrow, okay?"

Sora nodded and hugged her for a while longer, before letting her go. They parted ways and once Sora was out of sight, she texted Riku.

[Kairi]: Something weird happened

And it didn't take long for Riku to reply.

[Riku]: Tell me everything

It stayed weird for days. Sora kept attacking every guy she's talking to, even Riku, and tried everything to keep her for himself. He was still sorry about what happened on the play island, she could feel it and even though no accidents like this happened anymore, he was still aggressive towards everyone else.

Maybe Riku was right. Maybe he did come back as 'something else'. With every fight Sora got himself into with others she felt the darkness inside him growing. But when they're alone it's like none of this ever happened.

The whole team of keyblade wielders still kept in touch with each other and since Kairi and Axel became real good friends during their training she asked him to come over and help them. Roxas joined him of course, since he's a part of Sora. Actually Xion and Isa wanted to come, too, but they sadly couldn't find the time.

So when the 'destiny trio' went to the play island to meet their friends, Soras mood dropped constantly. And when Kairi went to hug Axel he snapped. "Okay, that's enough!" The brunette yelled and pulled Kairi away from him. Before she could ask what's wrong with him, he pulled her into a tight hug, as if he wanted to protect her from everyone.

"Okay, this _is_ weird." Commented Axel, while the blonde nodded in agreement. "Told ya." Sora glared at Axel, Roxas and Riku, holding her even tighter against him. "What are you talking about?!" The guys just stared at him as if he's grown a second head. "Maybe you're right, Riku..."

Kairis eyes widened at the blondes words. If Roxas and Axel could see the difference in such a short time...Was the darkness really spreading in Soras heart? After having glared some big holes into their friends Sora turned away, practically dragging her with him. "Come on, Kairi, let's get out of here." But he stopped at Axels next words. "How about you let her decide what she wants to do."

"How about _you_ shut your mouth?" Quickly, Kairi ducked under his arm and stepped away from him, standing between him and their friends. "Stop that! Why are you always so angry? They're our friends." Sora frowned as he looked at the guys behind her. "I don't know." Seeing that he began to calm down again, Kairi went back to him.

"Maybe you need some rest." Sora just nodded and as Kairi led him back to the boats, she looked over her shoulder to the guys. They nodded at her, telling her silently that they'll try to figure out what's wrong with him after having seen him.

They thought something like this might happen and they all agreed that if he happened to snap at them that Kairi will bring him away and calm him down. The couple went to Soras place and he was definitely calmer by now.

"What's wrong with you?" They sat on his bed and Sora's leaned his head on her shoulder. "Don't know." He mumbled and cuddled closer to her. At some point he fell asleep and Kairi used the time to write with the guys.

[Riku]: How's he?

[Axel]: Back to normal?

[Kairi]: Yep. As if nothing happened. Any ideas?

[Roxas]: Something's definitely wrong with him and you seem to be the major key

[Axel] Maybe Kai's light's preventing from the darkness to spread?

[Riku]: Could be

[Kairi]: But this can't keep going on like this. Is there anything we can do to help him?

[Riku]: If there's anyone who can help it's you. You are the princess of heart

Kairi sighed and put her phone away. Then she absentmindedly run her fingers through Soras spikey hair that lay on her lap. "You can have my light, Sora. Just don't let the darkness consume you."

Days passed, but Kairi still didn't know how to help Sora. His behavior became worse, especially when Kairi wanted to hang out with Riku and Axel. Roxas had to go back to Twilight Town, but they kept him updated.

"You're not leaving!" Yelled Sora at her and it was the first time he ever did. He was extremely clingy at this point and to be honest, it's slowly getting on her nerves. "I'm just gonna train with Axel." They wanted to meet at the play island, but Sora wouldn't let her get in her little boat.

"I-I'll train with you! Okay? Come on!" To prove his point, he summoned his keyblade but she wouldn't just play along today. "No." Just as she wanted to go, he held her chin and moved her head to look at him. "Don't go, princess." What's up with the 'princess' thing though?

"Don't call me that." She sighed. "But you are a princess. You're _my_ princess." Sora mumbled, face coming closer to hers. "Sora..." Not letting her protest, he silenced her with a kiss. Yep, the darkness clearly made him bold. But also aggressive...She'd rather have her awkward, too-nervous-to-act Sora back.

He knew exactly what to do to make her stop thinking, though and she was almost about to ditch Axel, till said man approached them. "Kairi." Sora pulled away and glared at Axel for interrupting them. The redhead in question looked quite neutral, despite seeing them kiss like that. "You coming?"

"Ye—"

"She has other plans." Interrupted Sora, still holding her close to him. "I can't remember asking you." Soras glare darkened at that. He looked kinda creepy. "I guess we need to train another time." The girl frowned, thinking he let Sora have his way, but he looked way too serious. He must've planned something. Or just...acting on instinct like he always did.

"The darkness is spreading too fast. Go get Riku." She couldn't move, though, as Sora tightened her grip on her. "Are you really believing him, Kairi?" Asked Sora, having noticed that she wanted to leave. "Do you really believe your _kidnapper_?" That was ages ago and Sora knew they're friends now! "He's _lying_!"

Kairi could clearly hear the slight difference in his voice and also feel the darkness in him becoming bigger and bigger. It was obviously feeding on his —she didn't dare to say it— jealousy and his normal, not possessive, way of protectiveness over her and turned it into something horrible. This really wasn't her Sora anymore...

And so she pushed him away, using the moment she caught him off-guard to run to Axel. He stepped in front of her to prevent Sora from grabbing her. "Go, Kairi. I'll hold him off." Nodding, she ran off to Rikus place. Yeah, she could've just called him, but she couldn't think straight. Also she needed to get away from Sora for now.

"Give her back, Axel!" She heard Sora yell, before two keyblades clashed together. Trying to ignore the sounds behind her, she ran as fast as she could.

"Riku!" She called desperately, banging on the door the second she arrived. "Riku!" Kairi almost punched him when he opened the door, but he caught her fist. "What's wrong?"

"Sora! The-the darkness! Axel...!" The silver haired boy nodded, apparently understanding her gibberish. "Are you saying they're fighting?" The redhead nodded and then they're both running back to the beach. "It happened faster than I expected."

"You knew this would happen?" Riku nodded. "Eventually, yes. But I hoped we have more time to figure out what to do before the darkness grew too strong..." Kairi felt tears forming in her eyes. It was all her fault. Was her light not enough? If only she realized this sooner...If only she could fight better...She should've tried to defend herself better against Xemnas and Xehanort...

A gentle pat on her shoulder brought her back to reality. Looking up, she saw Rikus worried but determined face, silently telling her that it's not her fault and that they'll save Sora. It was hard to believe him, though. At least the first part. Kairi nodded back and wiped the tears away. They will save Sora. They had to.

Back at the beach they saw the two fighting, but that wasn't even the worst part. There was now darkness surrounding Sora. The tears came back, but now wasn't the time for that. They had to save him. "That's...worse than I thought." Mumbled Riku and Kairi just agreed with a nod. "We should take this fight away from innocent people."

Kairi was surprised when her best friend suddenly kneeled down, his back facing her. "Hop on. I'll get us to the play island." Doing as she's told, she climbed on Rikus back and held onto him tightly, as he got up again and ran to the shore. "Hold him off till we're there!" He called to Axel, who's still fighting Sora. "What do you think I'm doing this whole time?!"

Now Sora saw them. "Kairi!" The redhead glanced back at him, noticing that his hair became...paler? His eyes weren't the same blue either. But she couldn't look at him better, because Riku suddenly leaped into the air. Kairi squealed and held onto Riku tighter. He must've used aero magic to do this.

When they landed again moments later and Kairi slowly slid off his back, she felt dizzy. That was surely a weird experience, but something she wanted to learn. They didn't have the time to make a plan, though, because Sora showed up moments later. Now that he's closer than before, she could see his hair slowly turning silver-ish and his eyes were yellow. "Release her! Right now!"

That was indeed a terrible sight..."Stay back, Kairi." Said Riku, as he stepped in front of her to shield from anything Sora might throw at them. But Kairi wasn't really satisfied with his decision. She was a keyblade wielder too! But there wasn't really much she could do...She lost to Sora and he held himself back, how would things be if he's serious?

But would he even attack her? She couldn't tell Riku her idea, though, since Sora began to attack him. Riku blocked his attack and threw him right back, before launching a counterattack. It was really horrible seeing them fight like this. They were both serious, she could tell and she was afraid they'll hurt each other.

She gritted her teeth as she watched them fight, before finally snapping. "Stop it, you two!" But Kairi instantly regretted it. She did get Rikus attention, but Sora used this moment to attack. Seconds later Riku was thrown back against the rocky wall by the little waterfall. "Riku!"

Kairi was about to run to him, but an arm around her waist prevented her from doing so. She felt a chill going down her spine at the cold feeling of darkness on him. Sora's other arm wrapped around her waist, too and pulled her against his chest. Then he put his head on her shoulder, now white hair sticking out in every direction.

"Sora..." She mumbled still staring at Riku lying unconscious in the water with teary eyes. There was no time to cry! She had to do something! "Why are you doing all this?"

"I wanna be with you, princess. Forever." To be honest Kairi had no idea how to feel about this. She wanted to be with him, too, of course but not like this. Not with so much darkness in him. She wanted _her_ Sora back! "Give up already." Said Sora with a light distorted voice angrily.

The redhead blinked the tears away to clear her vision and saw Riku standing up and ready for round two. Before she could do anything —jeez why was she so slow?— Sora picked her up bridal style. "Back off! She's mine!" He practically growled at Riku. "What do you want from her?" Sora gritted his teeth angrily, the darkness growing.

"Sora, stop that!" She yelled at him, putting a hand on his chest. Then her hand suddenly began to glow and Sora let out a painful gasp. He let go of her, but instead of falling on the sand aero magic broke her fall. The spikey haired boy fell to his knees, gripping the shirt near his heart tightly. Kairi saw the blue returning to his eyes, but just for a second before it's yellow again.

Reacting fast for once, Kairi summoned her keyblade and held it up just in time to block Soras. "What did you do?!" No matter how much strength she used to withstand him, she was being pushed down, till she's lying on the sand. He was hovering above her, still pushing his keyblade against hers.

And then he was gone and on his place stuck Rikus keyblade. Kairi sat up and took Rikus offering hand to stand. The older boy pulled his keyblade out of the sand, eyes staying on their mutual best friend. "Whatever you did, you should do it again."

"But I don't know what—"

"He needs your light, Kairi." Riku interrupted, glancing at her. "You can do it." He patted her shoulder and Kairi definitely felt more confident now. "Yo!" Axel joined them in the island. He looked exhausted and had quite a few cuts and bruises all over him, but he still looked ready to fight more. "Need some help?"

"Axel, are you okay?" Said redhead grinned at her. "Sure. What did you expect?" Kairi gave him a quick smile, before they turned their attention back to Sora. He was glaring at all three of them and Kairi guessed that maybe this time he'd fight her, too. The darkness surely took full control of him now.

"We need to make an opening for Kairi." Said Riku, while Axel nodded, grinning. "Let's do it, then." The boys went to attack Sora from different angles, while Sora threw a dark ball at Riku and blocked Axels attack with his keyblade. Riku destroyed the dark ball with his weapon and continued his attack, making Sora back away from him.

Axel used the chance and hit him in his stomach, sending him flying. Then he made way for Kairi, who ran past him and tried to get closer to him. But Sora was no fool and landed on his feet and when he did their keyblades clashed. Kairi could feel herself being pushed backwards, the sand wasn't really helping her to stand her ground.

"You can still switch sides, princess." The redhead wasn't backing down and pushed against his weapon. "Funny. I wanted to tell you the same." She said provokingly, watching as his eyes darkened with anger. No, she wasn't afraid of him, he was still Sora. Somewhere...deep down. She may be close enough, but there's no way she could hold him back with just one hand.

He seemed to be perfectly capable of doing it, though, as one hand let go of the weapon and reached to her. Kairi couldn't move, so he took this opportunity to caress her check, obviously trying with another method to get to her. His eyes softened, turning slightly blue-ish again and it made her tear up again. That's just a trick from the darkness, she told herself over and over again.

Then he was suddenly frozen solid. But not for too long, since the ice already began to crumble. Once he was free and wanted to attack her again, his arms were held back by Axel and Riku. "Kairi, now!"

Kairi took a step back and raised her keyblade, pointing at his heart. Maybe she could focus her light on her weapon and free him that way? Well, it was worth a shot. She may have never done this again, but she did just shot light out of her hand minutes ago without realizing what she did.

"Okay..." She mumbled, trying to focus all her magic, all her light, all her love for Sora to free him from this terrible darkness. She could practically feel all her energy flowing to her keyblade. "I love you, Sora." Said Kairi loud enough for him to hear, before shutting her eyes tightly and shot a powerful beam of light straight into his heart. She tried to ignore his painful screaming, after all she's just doing this to help him.

Just when it stopped, she opened her eyes again. Sora writhed in pain, while Riku and Axel kept holding his arms back. It was terrible seeing him in so much pain...but the darkness —or at least the dangerous part that possessed him— needed to get out of his heart. And that's what it did. Some agonizing minutes later, a big darkness left Soras body and formed its own.

And of course it looked like Soras shadow. After a lot of protest from Sora, he and Riku once told her that the younger boy could use so called 'Drive Forms'. One of those forms made him look like a shadow creature, called Anti-Form. It just happened at the most desperate moments. Was that the part that took control of him?

The creatures eyes glowed bright yellow and were fixed on her. Of course it was. If it behaved like a heartless then she was the most obvious target due to her heart of pure light. She got ready to fight it and it chose this moment to run on all fours to her. It jumped up, ready to slash her with its claws.

Kairi tried to do the same as before, focusing as much light on her weapon as possible. But instead of a beam the keyblade itself glowed brightly and forming a blade of light. Once the creature was close enough, Kairi let out a battle cry and slashed it instead. The blade cut right through it, destroying it in an instant.

The creature and the darkness around it dissolved, leaving nothing behind. Sighing Kairi fell to her knees, spent. She may not have fought as much as Axel and Riku, but using so much energy for two big attacks left her exhausted.

Then she eventually looked to the boys. All three of them were staring at her amazed and awestruck. And the best thing was, Sora seemed to be alright! Riku and Axel were still holding his arms, but more like to steady him. His hair turned back to its brown color and he's staring at her with those deep blue eyes she fell in love with. "Jeez...Remind me to never get on her bad side again." Mumbled Axel to the guys that were still unable to talk.

"Sora, are you okay?" She asked somewhat hesitant. His only reply were some noises. "He's back to normal." Riku confirmed, looking quite proud. Despite her tiredness, Kairi was quickly back on her feet and jumped into Soras arms, hugging him as tight as she could.

"You're alright...!" She said more to convince herself. Kairi felt herself crying for the umpteenth time that day, especially when he hugged her back and buried his face in her hair. "Kairi...I-I'm sorry for everything I did. I was horrible to you. Riku's right, I tried to control you. And then I tried to kill you...Gosh, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sor—"

Now it was Kairi who silenced him with a kiss. He was so surprised when she suddenly pulled away that she took advantage of it. When they parted and the redhead saw him staring at her in shock and blushed a deep red, the tears she tried to hold back glided down her cheeks.

Pulling him back into a tight hug, Kairi cried and laughed at the same time. "_I'm_ sorry...that I haven't seen this sooner. I should've realized sooner that you're not yourself." Sora shook his head against hers. "Don't you dare take the blame. You haven't done anything wrong."

"But I let Xemnas take me and—"

"Stop it right there!" Interrupted Sora, sounding angry again. "There was noting you could've done. If anything I should apologize for not taking better care of you." Before she could protest more a cough interrupted her. The couple immediately looked to Axel. "You guys know you're going round in circles, right? It doesn't matter who might be to blame for this or not, fact is everything's fine again so let's celebrate this damn victory with some ice cream."

The trio laughed at their comrade's words. "Typical Axel." Said Kairi. "But maybe you're right. At least we were able to save Sora." Riku shook his head, earning a confused look from the redhead. "You did this all alone, Kairi. Axel and I just gave you some time."

"Yeah. This time the princess saved the knight." Agreed Axel and grinned at the couple. Giggling lightly, Kairi hit his arm gently. He knew she didn't like being called princess, since he kept teasing her with it a lot during training. But maybe this time a little nudge was more deserved than magic.

"Let's go back." Suggested Riku and led the way to the docks. Axel followed silently and the girl guessed it must be their way to give her and Sora a little private time before getting their 'reward'.

"Kairi. Thank you." Said Sora, once the guys were out of earshot. "If you didn't use your light like that —by the way that was really amazing— I might have turned into something worse. I don't know what I'd do without you..."

"You'd be completely hopeless."

"That's one way to put it." Sora chuckled, it was kinda unbelievable that not even ten minutes ago he was consumed by darkness and wanted to destroy them all. Then he surprised her with a kiss on his cheek. And she wouldn't trade this shyness of him for anything in the world. He shot her a bright grin and took her hand in hers, leading the way to the others. "Let's get some ice cream then!"


End file.
